CHILDREN'S PERCEPTIONS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION ABOUT SCIENCE AND SCIENTIST'S CONCEPTS

This work is a research result of a case study, carried out with children of Early Childhood Education in a Municipal School in Uruguaiana/Rio Grande do Sul in 2018. The objective is to verify the perceptions of children about science and scientist. The group under study was 21 children from the last stage of Early Childhood Education. Data arise through surveys and drawings elaborated by the children. Qualitative techniques support the analysis. Drawings were studied through a methodology adapted from a content analysis comparing children's responses. Results show that children's perceptions of science and scientist are varied. We found some with fragmented conceptions confusing the scientist with other professions, others with stereotyped conceptions leading a vision of the scientist presented in drawings, movies, and books, and others without any conception of science and scientist. It is notable that when the child cannot express himself verbally about a topic, it is possible to know what they think through his drawing or graphic representation.